Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier has ruled out the possibility of any tactical change as he bids to end the club's dismal recent form. Since topping the Premiership a month ago, Liverpool have picked up just one point from five league games and managed only uninspiring cup victories over Vitesse Arnhem and Ipswich in the meantime. Their latest reverse came in a 2-0 defeat at Charlton, which saw them slip to fourth in the table.
The side have been subjected to much criticism for their style of play, particularly their lack of width, during this barren run but Houllier has no intention of changing his approach.
He said: "If you ask me whether I am going to change the system of play - no. I am not am not going to play a 3-5-2 because this is not my philosophy. I had to do that four years ago.
"The main thing is you trust your players, and I trust them. So, we will get out of this period. Manchester United had a difficult period about a month and a half ago, now it is our turn. All I know is we will do our best to get out of it very quickly."
Liverpool will look to tomorrow night's UEFA Cup third round tie against Vitesse at Anfield to get their season back on track. The Reds spurned a catalogue of chances to put the tie beyond their Dutch opponents' reach at the Gelredome a fortnight ago and returned home from the first leg with only a slender 1-0 lead, courtesy of Michael Owen.
Owen, who has scored 18 times in Europe, could match Ian Rush's club record with two more tomorrow but Houllier has no intention, as has been suggested, of introducing wingers to feed his goal habit.
Houllier added: "We don't have wingers. There are not many of them. In the World Cup there were two wingers out of 32 teams. One was Irish and the other was Spanish. You have to create width, maybe we could say that, but I don't see many teams playing with wingers."
Meanwhile, Houllier will have to make do without Emile Heskey for the visit of Vitesse. The England forward injured his ankle in the defeat at The Valley last weekend and has been all but ruled out. Houllier is otherwise unlikely to make many changes from the squad, which lost to Charlton.
Filed by Johnny Proby
